Currently focused on the importance of a reference architecture for the digitization of oceans.

Sunday, March 05, 2017

A bold vision for Atlantic Canada Association of IT Architects

I had a bit of an epiphany when thinking about the purpose of the Atlantic Canada Association of IT Architects. I was thinking about to things;

What is going to attract membership to share with, and access, the association.

How are we going to engage public and private sector organizations is a meaningful way.

My thinking ended up rewriting the vision statement for the organization to be much more bold and broad. I changed the vision to be;

Our Vision is for Atlantic Canada to become world renowned for our Information Technology Architectural excellence. This excellence will support, and be a pillar for, the technology sector economy within all four provinces of Atlantic Canada. Overall the ACAITA will increase the awareness, effectiveness, and value of Information Technology Architecture for practitioners and organizations. Atlantic Canada will be recognized worldwide for its Architectural excellence and effectiveness.

The rational for this altered vision is to attract members and engage the sector. More specifically, I believe the following themes are important when wanting to fulfill these two key aspects of building an association (and community).

We need a massive way to inspire people to become members, and to contribute. Even though there is already a sharing economy within most technology communities, a lot of what people are looking for is access. Access to knowledge, access to education, access to mentorship, access to other professional associations, access to learning materials, access to conferences, access to opportunities, etc... As much as people want to share, they also want access to resources. I believe the association can leverage its membership, and bold vision, to create partnerships and ease peoples access to resources.

To become further engaged with the public and private sectors we need to continue to contribute in a meaningful, and economic way. We need to offer exemplary skills and knowledge that are recognized worldwide further attracting technology projects to Atlantic Canada.

As an association we need funding sources. As active contributors to the Atlantic provinces economic future it will be easier to establish partnerships and find sources of funding if we are recognized as adding value and essential resources.

What are your thoughts to my thinking in having a more bold and broad vision for the ACAITA?

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All views expressed on this site are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. They are views created by my many years as an IT professional and, more importantly, an enterprise architect responsible for building large and distributed systems.